Systems and the Systems Analyst

Information is an organizational resource which must be managed as carefully as

other resources. Costs are associated with information processing. It must be
managed to take full advantage of its potential.

A system is a combination of resources working together to transform inputs into

usable outputs.

An information system is an arrangement of people, data, processes, interfaces,

networks, and technology that interact to support and improve both day-to-day
operations (data processing, transaction processing), as well as support the
problem-solving and decision-making needs of management (information services,
management information systems, executive support).

A computer application is a computer-based solution to one or more business

problems or needs. One or more computer applications are typically contained
within an information system.

Systems Analysis and Design is a systematic approach to identifying problems,

opportunities, and objectives; analyzing the information flows in organizations;
and designing computerized information systems to solve a problem. Systems
Analysts act as outside consultants to businesses, as supporting experts within a
business, and as change agents. Analysts are problem solvers, and require good
communication skills.

A problem is an undesirable situation that prevents the organization from fully

achieving its purpose, goals, and objectives. An opportunity is the chance to
improve the organization even in the absence of specific problems. (Some might
argue that any unexploited opportunity is, in reality, a problem.) A directive is a
new requirement imposed by management, government, or some external
influence. (Some might argue that a directive until it is fully complied with is, in
reality, a problem.)

A systems analyst facilitates the development of information systems and

computer applications. The systems analyst performs systems analysis and design.
Systems analysis is the study of a business problem or need in order to recommend
improvements and specify the requirements for the solution. System design is the
specification or construction of a technical, computer-based solution as specified
by the requirements identified in a systems analysis.

Personal qualities helpful to systems analysts include:

• problem-solving abilities
• communication skills
 • computer/IT experience
• self-discipline and self-motivation
• Project management capabilities

The systems development life cycle (SDLC) is a systematic approach to solving

business problems.

Systems are enhanced for a number of reasons:

• adding features to the system

• business and government requirements change over time
• technology, hardware and software are rapidly changing

CASE tools are automated, microcomputer-based (PC-based) software packages

for systems analysis and design. Reasons to use CASE tools are:

• to increase analyst productivity

• to facilitate communication among analysts and users
• to provide continuity between life cycle phases
• to assess the impact of maintenance

Upper CASE (front-end CASE) tools are used to perform analysis and design.
Lower CASE (back-end CASE) tools generate computer language source code
from CASE design. The advantages of generating source code include:

• the time to develop new systems decreases

• the time to maintain generated code is less than to maintain traditional
systems
• computer programs may be generated in more than one programming
language
• CASE design may be purchased from third-party vendors and tailored to
organizational needs
• generated code is free from programming coding errors

Analysis and design errors detected in the later phases of the systems
development life cycle (SDLC) cost more to fix than if detected in earlier
phases.
Systems and Organizations
Information is an organizational resource which must be managed as carefully as
other resources.

Organizations are complex systems composed of interrelated and interdependent

subsystems. Organizational subsystems are said to be interrelated and
interdependent when a change in one subsystem affects other subsystems. An
organizational boundary separates the system from its environment. System and
subsystem boundaries and environments impact on information system analysis
and design.

The three levels of management in organizations are:

• strategic management
• middle management

• operations management

Entity-Relationship diagrams help the analyst understand the organizational

system. An E-R diagram is a graphical depiction of organizational system elements
and the association among the elements. An entity represents a person, place, or
thing. An associative entity can only join two fundamental entities. An attributive
entity is used to represent an attribute of an entity, often a repeating group, and
cannot exist without being linked to a fundamental entity.
A context-level data flow diagram is an important tool for showing data used and
information produced by a system. It provides an overview of the setting or
environment the system exists within: which entities supply and receive
data/information.
Systems Development Life Cycle
Kendall & Kendall version

1. Identify problems, opportunities, and objectives

2. Determine Information Requirements
3. Analyze System Needs
4. Design the Recommended System
5. Develop and Document the Software
6. Test and Maintain the System
7. Implement and Evaluate the System
Security is a constant trade-off between functionality and risk-avoidance.

Security consists of those procedures and policies which seek to insure that the right people
perform the right actions at the right times using the right resources. Security procedures seek to
prevent persons who are not authorized to perform certain actions or use certain resources are
restricted or prohibited from doing so.

• Physical Security is controlling access to physical resources.

(computer equipment and peripherals, backup media, memoranda or other documents
containing confidential or proprietary information)
• Logical Security is controlling software access.
(e.g., password challenges)
• Behavioral Security are procedures that seek to prevent people from misusing computer
hardware and software.
(e.g., employee policies, logging unsuccessful access attempts to a data set)

Logical security is essentially access control. Access control consists of Identification,

Authentication, and Authorization. The Identification step requires the user to state his or her
identity. This is usually a Username, Login ID, or Account Name. The Authentication step is the
system challenging the user to prove he or she is actually the person represented by the
Username or Account Name that has just been provided. This can be done in three ways:

• Something the User Knows. Typically this is a password of some kind, perhaps called a
PIN number or "secret code."
• Something the User Has. This could be a key, a magnetic-stripe card or badge, or some
other special device. These items are often called tokens.
• Something the User Is. This kind of authentication relies on a physical characteristic of
the user such as fingerprints or retinal patterns. This is usually called biometrics.

After the user is Identified and Authenticated, Authorization is that portion of Access Control
which grants the user access to specific system resources.

A firewall provides a barrier between an internal network and an external network. A firewall
restricts (either completely or selectively) data traffic from passing from one side to the other. A
firewall may be composed of hardware components, software components, or both.
System (from Latin systēma, in turn from Greek σύστημα systēma) is a set of interacting or
interdependent entities, real or abstract, forming an integrated whole.

The concept of an 'integrated whole' can also be stated in terms of a system embodying a set of
relationships which are differentiated from relationships of the set to other elements, and from
relationships between an element of the set and elements not a part of the relational regime.

The scientific research field which is engaged in the study of the general properties of systems
include systems theory, systems science, systemics and systems engineering. They investigate
the abstract properties of the matter and organization, searching concepts and principles which
are independent of the specific domain, substance, type, or temporal scales of existence.

Most systems share the same common characteristics. These common characteristics include the
following

• Systems are abstractions of reality.

• Systems have structure which is defined by its parts and their composition.
• Systems have behavior, which involves inputs, processing and outputs of
material, information or energy.
• Systems have interconnectivity, the various parts of a system have functional
as well as structural relationships between each other.

The term system may also refer to a set of rules that governs behavior or structure.
Contents
[hide]

• 1 History
• 2 System concepts
• 3 Types of systems
o 3.1 Cultural system
o 3.2 Economic system
o 3.3 Biological system
• 4 Application of the system concept
o 4.1 Systems in information and computer science
o 4.2 Systems in engineering and physics
o 4.3 Systems in social and cognitive sciences and management
research
o 4.4 Systems applied to strategic thinking
• 5 See also
• 6 References
• 7 Further reading

• 8 External links

[edit] History

The term System has a long history which can be traced back to the Greek language.

In the 19th century the first to develop the concept of a "system" in the natural sciences was the
French physicist Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot who studied thermodynamics. In 1824 he studied
what he called the working substance (system), i.e. typically a body of water vapor, in steam
engines, in regards to the system's ability to do work when heat is applied to it. The working
substance could be put in contact with either a boiler, a cold reservoir (a stream of cold water), or
a piston (to which the working body could do work by pushing on it). In 1850, the German
physicist Rudolf Clausius generalized this picture to include the concept of the surroundings and
began to use the term "working body" when referring to the system.

One of the pioneers of the general systems theory was the biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy. In
1945 he introduced models, principles, and laws that apply to generalized systems or their
subclasses, irrespective of their particular kind, the nature of their component elements, and the
relation or 'forces' between them.[1]

Significant development to the concept of a system was done by Norbert Wiener and Ross Ashby
who pioneered the use of mathematics to study systems [2][3].

In the 1980s the term complex adaptive system was coined at the interdisciplinary Santa Fe
Institute by John H. Holland, Murray Gell-Mann and others.
[edit] System concepts
Environment and boundaries

Systems theory views the world as a complex system of interconnected parts.

We scope a system by defining its boundary; this means choosing which
entities are inside the system and which are outside - part of the
environment. We then make simplified representations (models) of the
system in order to understand it and to predict or impact its future behavior.
These models may define the structure and/or the behavior of the system.

Natural and man-made systems

There are natural and man-made (designed) systems. Natural systems may
not have an apparent objective but their outputs can be interpreted as
purposes. Man-made systems are made with purposes that are achieved by
the delivery of outputs. Their parts must be related; they must be “designed
to work as a coherent entity” - else they would be two or more distinct
systems

Open system

An open system usually interacts with some entities in their environment. A

closed system is isolated from its environment.

Process and transformation process

A system can also be viewed as a bounded transformation process, that is, a

process or collection of processes that transforms inputs into outputs. Inputs
are consumed; outputs are produced. The concept of input and output here is
very broad. E.g., an output of a passenger ship is the movement of people
from departure to destination.

Subsystem

A subsystem is a set of elements, which is a system itself, and a part of a

larger system.

[edit] Types of systems

Evidently, there are many types of systems that can be analyzed both quantitatively and
qualitatively. For example, with an analysis of urban systems dynamics, [A.W. Steiss] [4] defines
five intersecting systems, including the physical subsystem and behavioral system. For
sociological models influenced by systems theory, where Kenneth D. Bailey [5] defines systems
in terms of conceptual, concrete and abstract systems; either isolated, closed, or open, Walter F.
Buckley [6] defines social systems in sociology in terms of mechanical, organic, and process
models. Bela H. Banathy [7] cautions that with any inquiry into a system that understanding the
type of system is crucial and defines Natural and Designed systems.

In offering these more global definitions, the author maintains that it is important not to confuse
one for the other. The theorist explains that natural systems include sub-atomic systems, living
systems, the solar system, the galactic system and the Universe. Designed systems are our
creations, our physical structures, hybrid systems which include natural and designed systems,
and our conceptual knowledge. The human element of organization and activities are emphasized
with their relevant abstract systems and representations. A key consideration in making
distinctions among various types of systems is to determine how much freedom the system has to
select purpose, goals, methods, tools, etc. and how widely is the freedom to select distributed (or
concentrated) in the system.

George J. Klir [8] maintains that no "classification is complete and perfect for all purposes," and
defines systems in terms of abstract, real, and conceptual physical systems, bounded and
unbounded systems, discrete to continuous, pulse to hybrid systems, et cetera. The interaction
between systems and their environments are categorized in terms of absolutely closed systems,
relatively closed, and open systems. The case of an absolutely closed system is a rare, special
case. Important distinctions have also been made between hard and soft systems.[9] Hard systems
are associated with areas such as systems engineering, operations research and quantitative
systems analysis. Soft systems are commonly associated with concepts developed by Peter
Checkland through Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) involving methods such as action research
and emphasizing participatory designs. Where hard systems might be identified as more
"scientific," the distinction between them is actually often hard to define.

[edit] Cultural system

Main article: Cultural system

A cultural system may be defined as the interaction of different elements of culture. While a
cultural system is quite different from a social system, sometimes both systems together are
referred to as the sociocultural system. A major concern in the social sciences is the problem of
order. One way that social order has been theorized is according to the degree of integration of
cultural and social factors.

[edit] Economic system

Main article: Economic system

An economic system is a mechanism (social institution) which deals with the production,
distribution and consumption of goods and services in a particular society. The economic system
is composed of people, institutions and their relationships to resources, such as the convention of
property. It addresses the problems of economics, like the allocation and scarcity of resources.

[edit] Biological system

Main article: Systems biology
[edit] Application of the system concept

Systems modeling is generally a basic principle in engineering and in social sciences. The system
is the representation of the entities under concern. Hence inclusion to or exclusion from system
context is dependent of the intention of the modeler.

No model of a system will include all features of the real system of concern, and no model of a
system must include all entities belonging to a real system of concern.

[edit] Systems in information and computer science

In computer science and information science, system could also be a method or an algorithm.
Again, an example will illustrate: There are systems of counting, as with Roman numerals, and
various systems for filing papers, or catalogues, and various library systems, of which the Dewey
Decimal System is an example. This still fits with the definition of components which are
connected together (in this case in order to facilitate the flow of information).

System can also be used referring to a framework, be it software or hardware, designed to allow
software programs to run, see platform.

[edit] Systems in engineering and physics

In engineering and physics, a physical system is the portion of the universe that is being studied
(of which a thermodynamic system is one major example). Engineering also has the concept of a
system that refers to all of the parts and interactions between parts of a complex project. Systems
engineering refers to the branch of engineering that studies how this type of system should be
planned, designed, implemented, built, and maintained.

[edit] Systems in social and cognitive sciences and

management research

Social and cognitive sciences recognize systems in human person models and in human societies.
They include human brain functions and human mental processes as well as normative ethics
systems and social/cultural behavioral patterns.

In management science, operations research and organizational development (OD), human

organizations are viewed as systems (conceptual systems) of interacting components such as
subsystems or system aggregates, which are carriers of numerous complex processes and
organizational structures. Organizational development theorist Peter Senge developed the notion
of organizations as systems in his book The Fifth Discipline.

Systems thinking is a style of thinking/reasoning and problem solving. It starts from the
recognition of system properties in a given problem. It can be a leadership competency. Some
people can think globally while acting locally. Such people consider the potential consequences
of their decisions on other parts of larger systems. This is also a basis of systemic coaching in
psychology.

Organizational theorists such as Margaret Wheatley have also described the workings of
organizational systems in new metaphoric contexts, such as quantum physics, chaos theory, and
the self-organization of systems.

[edit] Systems applied to strategic thinking

In 1988, military strategist, John A. Warden III introduced his Five Ring System model in his
book, The Air Campaign contending that any complex system could be broken down into five
concentric rings. Each ring--Leadership, Processes, Infrastructure, Population and Action Units--
could be used to isolate key elements of any system that needed change. The model was used
effectively by Air Force planners in the First Gulf War. [10], [11], [12]. In the late 1990's, Warden
applied this five ring model to business strategy[13]